Nearly there!

Well I have just about finished all my work just got my 1000 word critical review to write. Overall I think I have worked well this term despite the fact I am not confident using CAD, I kept having problems with sewing machines and my computer kept acting up I have managed to complete everything. I am pleased with my marketing campaign the photos are gorgeous, my outfit was a success on the clothes show catwalk and I have learnt more about CAD and stretch fabrics. Oh and I also have some work experience lined up in Easter at Eternal Spirits! next term though I am going to improve the quality of my work as I don't think it looks as good as it could this term as I am still learning new things!
Bring on Christmas!

My directed projects in fashion outfit on the university catwalk at the Clothes Show

Fashion Issues photo shoot

Unfortunately my attempts to add all my photos from my shoot using a slide show failed and as there are so many pictures I have just added a few on here. Now for the hard part of choosing which two pictures to use for my magazine marketing campaign.

Update on my projects

Well I have finished making my garments and handed them in at last! fingers crossed they have a chance of getting picked to go to the clothes show! Now I just need to get my sketch book up to date and finish my technical sheets, not easy as I am not the greatest with CAD!
I have also done my photo shoot! woop! it was freezing cold sunday night in Derby and I had poor Kate (my model) in leggings and a very thin jersey top, I also felt bad I had her in six inch heels trying to balance on a bench! I haven't actually seen the photos yet but am very excited about them, I will post some on here as soon as I get my hands on them. I must do more in my sketch book as well for this project.
I am also very pleased I have some work experience lined up at Eternal Spirits, I went for a visit there, the people and place are both so nice, I am looking forward to working there!
My group presentation on Topshop is today, very nervous about this but my group came together to practice this morning so I think we are pretty much sorted...I hope. Will let you know how it goes, I must not mumble!

The Big 'Fashion' Issue

I visited The Big Fashion Issue at the Broadway cinema in Nottingham. The event is held by the Designer Forum, it is where companies visit to give lectures. These are the companies whose lectures I listened to.

Traid
They are a textile recycling for aid and international development company. It was started in 1999 to try and change ideas around second hand clothing. I was told about how the fashion industry drains resources, this process is: extraction, production, distribution, consumption, disposal. 1 in 6 people work connected to clothing and 1.2 million tonnes of textile waste is generated each year. A lot of dyes toxins and unnatural fibres get into the ground from the process of throwing away clothes, these release methane gases and it has been found there are more deformed births near landfills. If there was less waste the effects would be seen in 10 years, less waste = less methane.
Traid sells used clothes and they give the money to causes. The clothes are seperated into cheaper and more expensive clothes. Each shop is different to suit different areas.
Traid fund 5 projects a year to help charities and they also work with other charities e.g. Azafady in Madagascar building wells, schools etc. They also recycle 94% of stuff they receive and sell some of it to rag trade.
Traid remade is where the company alter clothes to make new ones but also making them affordable, they look at trends and make clothes to suit them.

Billy Bag
It is a UK niche brand started in 1998, it has 3 collections a year, prices range from £100-£250 for leather bags. Their first stockist was Harrods. They have an average of 22 pieces of editorial per year. The company has signature prints that are carried on and recognised as the brand. To make sales there are things a company must do these are: research and travel, look at global economy, become a member of a trade body, know languages, approach the UK embassy in this country and visit trade shows before applying for a stand.
Billy Bag have started celeb gifting, they have found advertising on buses also work well. The model chosen to represent Billy Bag has the London look where the company originated.

Rigby and Peller - lingerie and swimwear
Established 1939, sells 30 lingerie brands and 20 swimwear, sizes 30A to 38J they also sell maternity and mastectomy bras and have an alteration service. The collection is sourced from around the world each season and the company perform a brand audit, they look at brands and their purpose in the company. Prior to each buying season the company look at strengths: repertoire of brands, awareness, attitudes, currency, integrity, performance, competetive advantage, strong brand identity and name. And their weaknesses: managing change, servicing customers, consistent premium quality, recognisable style, limited production run to ensure exclusivity and uniqueness. They now have their own label that took over 2 years to develop nut means they can highlight that they havn't yet offered. All the components, trimmings etc are sourced from Europe. The price point for a bra is £50. Samples are made in China. The made to measure service bras are made in a work room in Knightsbridge and a bespoke bra costs about £260.

Kerry Thomas - Fused magazine talk

We had Kerry Thomas a magazine publisher come to speak to us about how she created the magazine Fused. We were able to ask her some questions.
What motivates you?
I get a lot of free stuff, get taken to nice places and have my own independance.
How do you manage financially?
Sales are not a problem, I don't have a huge amount of money but am comfortable, I don't hate my job so don't mind this.
Do you take on work experience?
Yes in different areas mainly writing, trend forcasting, people can take on different roles. I like it when people apply that they have made the effort to find out my name.
Can you see yourself doing this job for years?
I don't know I might hand the magazine over, I have already handed most editorial stuff over and become more involved in events, I am currently working on a music event.
How much do people pay for ad space?
From £250-£10,000
Do you refuse any advertisers?
We have had art work we don't like and have refused but if it fits the magazine we accept.
Is the magazine different in each country?
No it's the same, people buy into British culture. We only sell a couple of magazines in each shop and we also sell online.

Information Exchange Evening

The information exchange evening was a chance for me to meet and ask students who had just come back from work placements/ experience questions. It is to give us an idea of whether we want to do a year placement or just a few weeks experience and where we want to go. Here is what I found out...

Laura Mansell - Eternal Spirits, Nottingham

Eternal Spirits is an independant boutique in Nottingham that makes and sells Bridal wear, lingerie, corsets and accessories. Laura worked there for nine months, to get this placement she rang the company almost every day and had an interview there. She was paid travel expenses. Tasks included creating window displays, merchandising, fabric sourcing, she made a corset of her own, sourced accessories for photo shoots, crystallised corsets with swarovski crystals, maintained the website and was the backstage manager for a fashion show. She enjoyed all of it and didn't have a least favourite part. Her working hours were 9am till 5/5.30pm mon to fri but if there was a show to prpare for she would work till 6/7pm. Laura would definately recommend Eternal Spirits and says her confidence has grown and her fabric choices have improved.

Laura Pearson - Playboy, Nottingham

Laura worked at Playboy for three months, her role was Junior Designer, she assisted the designers and was paid £50 a week. Her tasks involved creating colour pallettes and mood boards, creating graphics for tshirts and she designed a garment using CAD. Hert favourite part was she got free stuff including a coat from the winter 08 collection the company also paid for her to go to the Designer Forum in Nottingham. Her working hours were mon to thurs 9am to 5.30 pm. Sarah learnt a lot about using CAD and said the people there are friendly and helpful.

Lauren Middleton - Alice takes a trip, Sheffield

Lauren worked here for 5 weeks, she designed and made her own collection which was then sold. Lauren also helped with fashion shows. She says her favourite part was making her own collection and then actually selling it. Her least favourite part was promoting, handing out flyers on the street. The working hours were mon to fri but were flexible, Lauren didn't see it as an actual job. She learnt about promotion and also how to pick models for the fashion shows.

Hayley Lytell - BC International

Hayley worked at BC International a company that produces garments with brand images on them such as children's television characters for one year. Her role was product developer, she was not paid. Tasks she took part in were visiting swimwear exhibitions, liasing with manufacturing,making sure products designed were in budget, overseeing the development process and developing new shapes for garments to british standards. Best part for her was she got a lot of factory contacts and also the people were really nice. Her working hours were 9am-5.30pm mon to fri. What she didn't like about working there was she doesn't actually like the clothes the company makes and she didn't like having to measure up garments. She wished she had a more creative role and hadn't taken the first placement she found.

Laura Fox - Burberry and Sixtynine magazine

Laura was an assistand technician and worked there for 3 months, her role was to shadow the sample machinist. She was not paid and her working hours were 8.30am to 5.30pm, she said it was good to see the factories. Laura worked at Sixtynine magazine for 3 weeks her role there was to rewrite press releases, her favourite part was interviewing an ex England football player. Laura wasn't sure what she wanted to do and so tried different job roles.

Krishna Haveliwala - Vogue New York and Esquire magazine

Krishna worked at Vogue for 3 months she didn't get paid as she didn't have a Visa even though her rent was £1000 a month. She found working at Vogue challenging but a good experience, it was very competetive and she wasn't allowed a break all day. Her favourite part was meeting lots of designers but the worst part was the atmosphere was intense and bitchy, she even got to pick up Anna Wintour's drycleaning. Apparantly you can't get a job at Vogue people just get promoted to positions.

At Esquire magazine Krishna learnt more, she unpacked and steamed clothes there. The editor actually spoke to her and the people were nice. She got a two day job through Esquire with M&S she was paid £100 a day, she dressed mannequins and was allowed to give her opinions and ideas. Krishna wishes she had done a placement in design.

An update on my projects

Fashion Issues
I think I have decided on a location for my photo shoot for the marketing campaign I am creating for the company New Look, because they normally advertise in magazines such as Heat and More, I want to create an ad that would be worthy of Vogue magazine. The location I have chosen is the centre of Derby at night as I want to have the city lights in the background and perhaps the big screen outside the assembly rooms. I have my model too my gorgeous friend Kate who has modelled for zoo magazine amongst various others and has been on the cover of Loaded magazine. I have requested a photographer from the photography dept at university and will do my model's hair and makeup myself. Because I work at New Look I own a lot of their clothes and so my model will wear some of them for the shoot.

Research for the group presentation is not going as well. I am struggling to find info on the company, my only resource is topshop.com I must think of somewhere else to find info. My group also need to start meeting up more to discuss the direction we are going in.

Directed projects in fashion
Well I have finally cracked Illustrator...I think, and have started on my technical sheets. I have created my patterns for my two garments and nearly finished my stretch garment toile, I am going to start my woven garment toile this week.

Professional studies in fashion
I can honestly say I have been terrified by this module and all the things I have learnt about what to do and what not to do when applying for a job! Tonight is the info xchange and so hopefully I will get some useful contacts and information and can finally start applying for work experience at companies.

John Morley from Paul Smith talk

Today we had a talk from John Morley, he is MD at Paul Smith. He joined the company in 1989 as a director and shareholder, a charted accountant by proffession he has been MD over 17 years.
We were given a brief history of Paul Smith himself. He wanted to be a sportsman this was his first career choice but was hit by a car riding his bike and broke a lot of bones. From there he went on to help a college girl start up her own clothes shop, he also helped run the shop. This inspired him to open his own shop in Nottingham in 1970 with help from his wife who taught him pattern cutting and most of the stuff he knows about design, launched a very successful business. The shop was named Paul Smith because at the time shops had crazy names but Paul Smith wanted people to know who owned the shop and so named it after himself.
The company has had a rapid growth of turnover in the past 15 years with accessories being the main point of sales at 33% Japan is the biggest market, Paul Smith is the most successful brand in Japan as they are a big fan of the English eccentricity, they understand Paul Smiths clothes with their simple designs but quirky touches. Paul Smith himself calls this 'classics with a twist'
Worldwide the company has six show rooms and five press offices. Each shop has a different format as Paul Smith believes in individuality. To name a few places the company have stores include: Melrose Avenue in LA, Greene Street Soho New York, Rue du Faubourg St Honore Paris. Also franchise stores in Istanbul Turkey, Johannesburg South Africa, St Petersburg Russia, Seoul Korea. Paul Smith also has a furniture shop in London, the company buys furniture and gives it a twist.Paul Smith is always looking to open more stores, their are stores due to open in Antwerp, San Francisco and Las Vegas.
Paul Smith promote themselves using PR related activities, collaborations with artists and companies and host art exhibitions and cultural events in their retail stores. They advertise in magazines, newspapers, online and on taxis and trams, Paul Smith is always trying to be different and stand out with their advertising, for example the new TV advert for the fragrance Paul Smith Rose is different to most perfume adverts, it is quite short and features no people like most other designer companies.
Paul Smith follow the seven P's these are: product, price, placement, promotion, process, people, profit.
Unfortunately Paul Smith don't take on students for work experience and I don't want to do the placement year...shame i'd love to say i've worked for Paul Smith.

This month I heart...

There are so many pretty things out there I want this month but at the top of the list are these lovelies...

This dress by Marc Jacobs I think is gorgeous, it has individual hearts cut out and would make a great party dress it's so different but at a price of over £2000 it's a bit out of my price range...shame.

I also love this jeweled heart bag from Topshop at £25 it's much more in my price range, it has a detachable chain strap if you don't want to hold it. The must have accessory for any party outfit I think.




















This dress by Yong at Liberty is stunning, I love the way strips of fabric have been attached in swirls, this would definately get you noticed at a party. But again way out of my price range at £1505. looks like i'll be getting my party season dress from New Look again.

23rd October 08 Geneveive Tolfield from George talk

Geneveive is the graduate manager at George, she came to talk to us about the company and also about working for George. Genevieve was a buyer at George then went on to HR and progressed to training buyers. She told us about Asda's values (Asda own George) and how important they are to the company, Their values are: Respect for the individual, Service and Strive for excellence. We were told we could apply for a 12 month placement at George or do 1-4 weeks unpaid work experience, I am quite interested in the buying department and am considering doing the work experience in easter for a few weeks. We were told a bit about what they look for in a portfolio and a CV. I think I will make some changes to my CV which I have now written and the next step is to put together my portfolio, I may put some of my work on here too.

Fashion Issues Project

Topshop Group Presentation

There are two parts to my Fashion Issues module. One project is to do a group presentation all about the ethos, history structure etc of a fashion company, our given company was Topshop. So far I have done some research on the marketing side of Topshop, they put their adverts in magazines such as Vogue and Elle, I thought as Topshop is a high street brand it wouldn't make it into magazines such as Vogue with all it's many designer campaigns but Topshop do actually have their Unique collection on the catwalk shows with designer collections. I have also noticed they have adverts on websites such as Perezhilton.com (not that I look at such trashy websites...anyway) this is an american website. Topshop has now launched in the US. Topshop support some charities too such as Fashion targets breast cancer, Peta and Starlight. They do a student shop event where they open their stores to students and offer a 20% discount and free goody bag also they visit universities this is what they call the Topshop campus tour, you can design and make your own Tshirt for free and get a goody bag. To get themselves out there Topshop also visit festivals such as Bestival where they give away free goodies!

Marketing Campaign

My other project is to create a marketing campaign to change the image of a company, this will be a double page magazine campaign, the company I picked is New Look, this is because I work there part time and I feel their main customer is young women that don't have loads of money to spend and are looking for a bargain. They normally advertise in magazines such as Heat, Look etc. I want to create a campaign good enough to go in Vogue that appeals to women who would normally go for designer labels. I will find a photographer and model for a photo shoot featuring some of New Look's nicest clothes. It will be glamorous and sophisticated!

14th and 21st October Steve Hind Careers advisor talk

Well I can't begin to tell you how nervous I am about applying for a work placement and writing my CV, yes i've got one that I adapt for part time jobs such as waitressing or shop assistant, but the CV I have to write now will determine whether I get the placement I want, I think i'll need all the help I can get. Steve Hind senior careers advisor came to talk to us and gave us some hints about writing a CV. Although I could not get them all down as there were so many (and I was quite busy trying to get over all the panic this was causing me) I managed to write down some good tips: make sure you do your research on the company you are applying to, that way when it comes to writing the CV you can include any points you think they are looking for, it's also good in an interview if you have company knowledge. Show you can demonstrate skills, don't just say your good at a number of things, when listing previous jobs, placements etc write what you did there and how you used your existing skills, also what new skills you learnt even if these previous jobs were not related to fashion, companies look for life skills as well. I dentify the clients needs and mould your CV around these, make it sound like you are just what they are looking for. The layout of the CV is important, after seeing a number of different ones and identifying what I liked and didn't like, I need to decide how I will lay mine out and how it will stand out amongst the other thousond CVs.

Directed Projects in Fashion...

I have researched all summer what will be in fashion in spring/summer 2009 and after creating some designs I am making an outfit that combines the themes 'Techno Romance' and 'Ruffles' after careful consideration I have decided to make the knitted garment in my outfit from spandex, this will be a pair of black hot pants with satin frills on the hem. I have never worked with a stretch fabric before and don't really know what to expect, I will let you know as soon as I have done my toile what the outcome is.

7th October 2008 Robert Hamilton from Puma talk

Today we had a visit from Robert Hamilton, he works as an apparel designer for the vertical retail team at Puma AG Germany. Robert studied Fashion Marketing at Northumbria University. He did a placement year at Griffin in Wilkshire as a design assistant (01/01/04 - 01/04/04)Griffin designs military style clothes for a high end market, a jacket costs around £300. Here Robert worked in a small team checking production, picked up collections from the factory and attended fashion shows.
"It's all about contacts."
Robert then went on to work for Fenchurch clothing as an assistant menswear designer (01/06/04 - 01/10/04)but again he wanted a change and so went on to work at Arcadia Head office for Topman as a print designer, this was a fast paced business, Robert had to design 12-14 prints a day. Good points about working for Topman were: they had good connections, he got to help out with the fashion show called Man, the company is very successful selling 1000 tshirts a day.
Robert visited to trade show 'Bread and Butter' this is where companies sell to different retailers, Robert went here to do an apparel report on trends.
After he finished his course Robert got a job at Abercrombie and Fitch after they came to graduate fashion week and offered him an interview, he recommended taking a sketch book with hand drawings in to interviews.
"Be proactive"
Puma also came to graduate fashion week they flew Robert to Germany for an interview, he took a jacket he had made to the interview that he had made from scratch and also used the same sort of glue on it as Puma often use, this was a talking point. Robert was offered a design position. I think Robert was successful in gaining this job role as he took some of his own work to show at the interview, found something of interest to the company to talk about and also had quite a bit of experience working at different companies in different areas.
Puma is a sports company started in 1948 although now they are trying to make themselves into a lifestyle brand, most of Puma's success comes from their motorsport wear. Robert has to design a collection containing 20 pieces in two days, he then has to fly to Hong Kong to hand over these designs and while there he has to start looking at new designs for the next collection.
I think Puma are successful because they now do clothes and equipment for lifestyle and not just sport this appeals to more people, although they will always have stronger competition such as Nike and Addidas which are much bigger companies.
Robert has now quit Puma as he wants a change and also does not believe in the company, he has already had a job offer from Nike.
"You are young fesh meat - this is your strength and weakness."